{"id":79,"date":"2010-03-11T07:32:57","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T07:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=79"},"modified":"2010-03-11T07:32:57","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T07:32:57","slug":"challenges-for-community-development-dreaming-the-unreasonable-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/03\/11\/challenges-for-community-development-dreaming-the-unreasonable-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges for Community Development – Dreaming the Unreasonable Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of challenges facing us is what should we do when the people we are helping have aspirations that are just so… well…unreasonable. \u00a0 Everybody\u00a0wants\u00a0to win the x-factor, be a model\/professional\u00a0footballer\u00a0or bag millions on the national lottery.<\/p>\n

What is the best\u00a0response\u00a0to such dreamers? \u00a0Options include…<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Share with them a liberal dose of ‘reality’ based on our knowledge of probabilities in the real world and encourage them to develop plan B<\/li>\n
  2. Wish them the best of luck – but reserve our energies and ambitions for the more practically minded<\/li>\n
  3. Roll our sleeves up and help<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There is of course only one answer if we are really interested in ‘development’ , the process of people exploring their potential and how it can be fulfilled in the world; rather than ‘envelopment’ the process of engaging people in\u00a0well\u00a0worn ‘pathways to success’ usually developed by an employer skills board of some description.<\/p>\n

    If we are interested in development then our role is to help people in the pursuit of their dreams and aspirations and to help them (if\u00a0necessary) develop\u00a0their\u00a0dreams and aspirations in the light of feedback and\u00a0experience.<\/p>\n

    But we should discredit their dreams at our peril.<\/p>\n

    Over the years I have collected a number of\u00a0business\u00a0ideas that ‘should never have worked’. \u00a0Any ‘practical and rational’\u00a0adviser would have ‘persuaded’ the potential entrepreneur to\u00a0think\u00a0again, to try something more sensible. \u00a0Yet all of these\u00a0ideas worked – both economically and socially.<\/p>\n

    Here are some of my favourites…<\/a><\/p>\n